Tortorella told MSG.com that he had mixed feelings about possibly losing Sullivan “On the one hand. I was worried about losing Mike and on the other hand I was excited for him getting those job opportunities. Quite frankly, Sully means everything to our team; he’s an important cog; a huge piece to our puzzle because when all’s said and done, we all do it together.”

He added, “on the one hand I was disappointed that he didn’t get an opportunity (to be an NHL head coach) but, selfishly, I’m excited that he’s back.”

On an episode of Behind The Bench from this season, Tortorella talked about how does everything relating to the team with Sullivan and Jim Schoenfeld and he appreciates when they talk during practice as it’s another voice for the players to hear.

Adam Rotter: All three assistant coaches have a great relationship and losing Sullivan would have been a big blow to the Rangers. He works so well with the defensemen and has an opinion that John Tortorella puts a lot of stock in. Losing Sullivan would have been the Rangers biggest loss in the offseason.

Someday, I'm actually gonna win this thing … although it might not be this year.

I've done these projections legitimately and illegitimately and gotten nowhere—I think the best I've done is beat Bent once—so this year I'm going outside the box and picking guys who are sort of under the radar and haven't really been associated with the Jets much, which would be fitting given John "Senior Secrecy" Idzik.…